Anchors Resign On Air: Cindy Michaels And Tony Consiglio Resigned Live On Air (Video)

Two news anchors based on Bangor, Maine resigned on air during the end of their 6:00 pm newscast on Tuesday, November 20, 2012.

According to reports, ABC 7 news anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio resigned live on-air because they were both frustrated with management over journalistic practices.

“And finally tonight, this will be Tony and my final show together right here on ABC 7. The last six years have been an interesting and enjoyable time for us as we have been the longest-running news team in Bangor,” Michaels said during their live broadcast as shown in the video below.

“On behalf of Cindy and me, we have loved every moment bringing the news to you,” Consiglio said during their joint resignation. “Some recent developments have come to our attention, though, and departing together is the best alternative.”

The two anchors did not elaborate on air what triggered their resignation. However, they revealed it on local newspaper, Bangor Daily News.

“There was a constant disrespecting and belittling of staff. We both felt there was a lack of knowledge from ownership and upper management in running a newsroom to the extent that I was not allowed to structure and direct them professionally. I couldn’t do everything I wanted to as a news director. There was a regular undoing of decisions,” Michaels was quoted as saying by Bangor Daily News.

“It’s a culmination of ongoing occurrences that took place the last several years and basically involved upper-management practices that we both strongly disagreed with. It’s a little complicated, but we were expected to do somewhat unbalanced news, politically, in general,” she added.

Meanwhile, the station’s management has this to say:

“Upper management is not involved in the daily production of the news, period. We’ve made great changes over the last few months and are not slowing down. Over the last 15 to 18 months, we’ve been a raging locomotive of change,” Mike Palmer, WVII vice president and general manager, told the paper.